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On a weekend in which the USA marked its birthday with explosive celebrations in the skies and on the soccer field, Lea Davison set off some fireworks of her own.

The Olympic mountain bike racer from Jericho blazed to a career-best second-place finish in the women's cross-country race at the third stage of the World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on Sunday. With her familiar "Old Glory" uniform adding a shot of national pride on Independence Day weekend, Davison overcame a tough start by chasing down one competitor after another to finish as runner-up.

Landing on the second step of the podium trumped Davison's previous top showing, a bronze in last year's World Championships in Hafjell, Norway.

Lea Davison(Photo: Courtesy USA Cycling)

"It was a pretty neat weekend: Fourth of July, racing in my Stars and Stripes kit, having my career-best finish and then watching the women's soccer team win the World Cup," Davison told the Free Press on Monday. "I'm beyond excited. I was so pumped up (Sunday night) that I couldn't get to sleep."

Top-10 finishes in each of the first two World Cup races this season afforded Davison a front-line starting spot for Sunday's race, which she said equates to "a huge advantage." But before she could establish a strong early position in the loaded field, Davison's fortunes came apart with one wrong crank.

"I blew out of a pedal at the start," she said. "When I came around halfway through my first lap, I was in 14th place."

Despite the early setback, Davison kept her focus forward and went about the business of improving her position. Her progress as a racer was evident in the result; whereas at the 2012 Summer Olympics she lost ground at the start and struggled to make it up, on Sunday she knifed back through the field with authority.

"I started to pick off as many people as possible," she said.

Davison battled back into podium position over the next four laps, then found herself battling elbow-to-elbow with hometown favorite Jolanda Neff. The Swiss national champion — who had won each of the first two WC races of the season — was riding on her home course, as she reportedly maintains an apartment in Lenzerheide.

Jericho, Vermont’s Lea Davison competes during the women’s UCI Cross Country Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Davison took second overall.(Photo: Gian Ehrenzeller/AP)

With every mash and maneuver of their fight for position, Davison said there was a palpable surge of support for Neff from the fans lining the course.

"I literally felt like I was battling an entire country," Davison said.

Davison's racing career has been on a dramatic upward trajectory since her recovery from hip surgery in January of last year, making her surge to Sunday's finish all the more appropriate. Coming into the final lap of the race, she chose to attack Neff on the longest climb of the course — and her strength made the difference as she put away the hometown favorite for good.

Davison's final move was made in the course's most technical stretch, where she overtook world champion Catharine Pendrel — who had shared the lead with eventual winner Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa for the first four laps — for second place.

Flesjaa ended up winning by a full minute for her 29th World Cup victory, which broke the existing career record set by Juliana Furtado of the U.S. in the 1990s. Neff finished fourth.

Davison's podium lifted her into fourth place in the overall World Cup women's standings, with action now shifting to North America for the next two races.

"This is the best start to a World Cup season that I've ever had," she said. "I knew I had it in me, but it's great to actually get it done."

Davison will return to action in the 2015 National Championships at Mammoth, Calif., the weekend of July 18. World Cup competition resumes at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, the weekend of Aug. 1.